


Pokemon: Delta Emerald

by Battler127



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire | Pokemon Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire Versions
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Blood and Violence, Character Development, Fluff and Humor, Headcanon, Light-Hearted, Mild Language, POV Third Person, Pokemon Journey, Possible Romance, will get DARK
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-29
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-15 18:40:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,914
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29068944
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Battler127/pseuds/Battler127
Summary: Upon moving to the Hoenn Region, Brendan Maple had a large bout of Wanderlust and is ecstatic when he's given a Starter by the local Professor, but when the forces of Nature began to awaken he has to decide just how much he is willing to risk in order to survive. And what he’s willing to lose to save those he cares for.
Comments: 5
Kudos: 4





	1. Moving In

Littleroot Town, a small settlement that's barely on the map of the Hoenn Region.

Brendan Maple admits he was a bit baffled by the fact that he and his family were moving there from Goldenrod City in the Johto Region as he currently sat in the back of a moving van.

The fifteen year old teen sighed and adjusted his white hat over his brown hair in thought as he wore a red shirt with two black stripes going up the front to where his chest was, and black shorts with white sport shoes.

Fifteen and he doesn't even have a single Pokemon yet when most trainers get them at the age of ten in other regions.

What made him different?

Probably the fact that his parents were overprotective, but he hopes that upon his Dad becoming the Gym Leader in the nearby Petalburg City that maybe-just maybe he could finally get his own Pokemon.

To be fair when he was ten, the infamous Criminal Organization Team Rocket was making waves with their comeback which was one of the reasons he was kept at home, but there wasn't a Team Rocket in the Hoenn Region.

Shaking his head, Brendan turned his attention back to the small handheld device in his hand where he was taking a Pokemon Exam in order to be considered being given a Pokemon from the infamous Professor Birch who resided in Littleroot, he wanted to do this legitly instead of being given one because the man was a friend of his Dad's.

As he took the test he couldn't help but think of the three Hoenn Starters where he would have the choice between Torchic, Mudkip and Treecko.

They were so different from the Cyndaquil, Totodile and Chikorita that new trainers received in the Johto Region that Brendan didn't know which one he would choose.

And then there was the fact that he would have to catch another Pokemon before reaching Petalburg so he could challenge his Dad.

But back to the Hoenn Starters.

Torchic wasn't a typical Fire Type Starter-when it evolved it becomes half-Fighting Type which gives the Pokemon a strong chance against Rock Types which were originally a weakness, plus they were powerful against Normal Types and Brendan would be lying if he said that he wasn't interested in choosing that one because Normal Types were his Dad's Specialty. So all-in-all Torchic was used by those who loved powerhouses.

Mudkip starts off as a normal Water-Type but like Torchic it evolves into a Dual-Type in this case being part Ground and neutralizes the weakness to Electricity making this Pokemon a valuable member of any team with its only weakness being Grass Types which had many counters to them.

Finally there was Treecko an oddity as this one doesn't become a Dual-Type but no one can deny this Pokemon's power in a fight compared to other Grass Types, especially when they evolve and learn the infamous Leaf Blade which can put the hurt on even Fire and Flying Types. Plus they can learn moves like Aerial Ace or Dragon Claw making them extremely versatile.

All of them had Pros and Cons to them but Brendan just couldn't decide.

To be fair Brendan would be fine with any Pokemon to start off with-but he would draw the line if it turned out to be a Slakoth considering that was his Dad's Starter and currently a Slaking which was his Signature Pokemon. That’s not to say he won’t catch one, but he didn’t want it to be his first Pokemon.

Brendan came out of his thoughts when the Moving Truck came to a stop and looked relieved.

They were finally here.

That was the last time he’ll offer to ride in the back of the Truck like that.

Double checking his Pokenav Plus to see that they were indeed in Littleroot Town, Brendan gave a nod and walked to the door to unlatch it after sending his answers to the local Professor, opening it only to grimace at the harsh morning sunlight that nearly blinded him.

Slowly his eyes adjusted before he hopped out looking up to see something shooting across the sky-.

"Brendan you're here at last," The teen turned to see a young woman with brunette hair tied into pigtails approaching him giving a smile. "Wasn't it tough riding in the back of that bumpy moving truck all the way here?"

"Yes," Brendan deadpanned with no hesitation earning an amused smirk from Caroline Maple. "I'm never volunteering for that again."

"There won't be an again, so you don't have to worry about that dear," Caroline said, turning from Brendan to the house they were parked in front of. "So what do you think of our new home?"

Truth be told Brendan was a bit surprised by the lack of a backyard as it was just a two-floored house but didn't let that bother him all that much.

The house itself was pretty good.

"I know it has a bit of a quaint feel to it, but it looks like a nice place to live," Caroline smiled at her son. "And you'll get your own room this time, how about we head inside?"

Upon entering the house, Brendan immediately grinned at seeing two large muscle-bounded Pokemon that were carrying and unpacking boxes, recognizing them as the Fighting Type Pokemon known as Machokes.

It wasn't out of the norm for Pokemon to work in labor, in fact a lot of them took to it as training-especially Fighting Types-with all the lifting and moving stuff.

"Pretty convenient right?" Caroline asked, referring to the Machoke doing the work-it wasn't going to be all of it as she would be unpacking some fragile stuff herself with Brendan giving a nod. "Your room is right upstairs the first room on the left, Norman bought a new clock to mark our move here, so don't forget to set it."

"Got it Mom." Brendan said right as the Machoke finished up and walked to leave, the teen and his mother getting out of the way as they smiled politely before exiting the home.

Once they were gone Brendan moved up the stairs and entered his room where he saw that everything was set up already. His bed, desk, heck even the TV and X-Box One was set up along with the Laptop on the desk.

Smiling a bit, Brendan moved to the wall clock and messed with it a bit, turning the TV on in the process to see a League Official Match was on making him pause as it was someone taking on the Elite Four Member Phoebe who was destroying the opponent with her signature Dusknoir.

While he naturally only knew the Johto/Kanto Elite Four compared to the Hoenn one, he couldn't deny that they were extremely powerful.

"Someday I'll be challenging them." Brendan vowed seeing the Dusknoir take down yet another Pokemon. "And I'm going to win."

After watching the match for a bit, Brendan went back to working on the clock and just got it set right when Caroline came into the room. "How do you like your room?" She asked, curiously looking around to make sure that everything was set up nicely.

"It's pretty cool." Brendan said with a grin, finding it great that he actually had his own room.

They weren't poor by any means but it was expensive to get housing in the Johto Region because of a crash in the stock market due to one of Team Rocket's attacks a good few years ago, that caused Johto to go through a decline making it hard for trainers to get by as many of them had little to no money to give.

It was one of the reasons his Dad had been applying for a Gym Leader Title and managed to get one in the Hoenn Region allowing for them to live better.

Giving a sigh, Brendan sat at his new desk and looked around his new room while Caroline left to go downstairs to see if she could test the TV by watching the News.

So this will be home sweet home from now on.

Tapping his foot, Brendan grimaced.

As nice as this place was he wants to see the world.

Sure Johto was big and connected to the Kanto Region, but the Hoenn Region was a huge place with their own Pokemon that he’s never seen before unlike in Johto when a lot of trainers new and old came to Goldenrod which meant that he could have quite the journey here if he could just get a Pokemon.

But he couldn't just leave on the day he moved in, that wouldn't be fair to his Mom.

A knock made him look up before a young man entered the room surprising Brendan before he grinned. "Hey Dad!" He greeted with a smile, not expecting this.

"Hey there, I came as soon as I heard you guys were moved in." Norman Maple said his red jacket unzipped to show a white shirt while he wore a pair of black pants. "Staraptor was just as excited given how fast he got me here."

Brendan gave a low chuckle already knowing that it had to do with Caroline's cooking as she was quite the Breeder using what she learned with her Husband's Pokemon and all of Norman's Pokemon fell in love with the food they get from her.

* * *

Dinner was pretty lively that night as Norman had his main six Pokemon out in the house seeing as it was big enough.

Along with the Staraptor he mentioned and his Starter Slaking, there was a Blissey, Sawbuck, Linoone and Persian.

Slaking and Persian just ate lazily while Linoone ran around the table where Brendan, Caroline and Norman were eating, hoping to get some more food while Blissey, Sawbuck and Staraptor conversed with each other.

"And then the guy sent out a Banette thinking he won because normal type moves wouldn't affect it." Norman said telling them about one of his latest battles with someone who made Norman question the education some trainers get. "Persian set him right with a Crunch Attack. How someone got six badges thinking like that, I have no clue."

The mentioned Pokemon gave a lazy yawn as she was mentioned making Brendan chuckle as he looked down to see Linoone stop to use Baby-Doll Eyes on him to try and get some extra food before Blissey approached and pulled him back.

"You already have food Linoone," Caroline stated to the rushing Pokemon turning to Norman. "It's great to hear you're enjoying your battles."

"Don't get me wrong I am, but a lot of them are too easy, many of them are just beginning thinking I'm an easy target because I'm a new Gym Leader." Norman shook his head at the thought.

"Well once you get your reputation up the stronger ones will flock to you," Caroline said patiently before looking amused. "Just as long as you make sure to visit more."

Norman gave a hearty laugh. "Don't worry, I'll always be here with family." He promised before turning to Brendan. "I spoke with Birch before I got here, he got the Exam you were taking."

It got quiet as Brendan nearly dropped his fork and looked at Norman with wide eyes, finding it annoying as Norman just closed his eyes as if trying to think about what to say before the man smirked.

"You passed, he'll give you a Pokemon around tomorrow morning." Norman said seeing the excited look on Brendan's face before he shot up with a loud cheer.

Slaking just glanced over in amusement at the teen after hearing his yell while Persian looked annoyed and hissed a bit.

“So any idea which one you want?” Norman asked, finding his excitement amusing while Caroline laughed at how Brendan was being.

That made Brendan stop as he sat back down with his arms crossed in thought. “I don’t know.” He said after a minute of silence. “All three are good, but I can’t decide.”

“Well I’m sure that no matter what you choose you’ll be a shoe in for the League,” Norman said showing faith in his son. “As long as you remember to care for your Pokemon.”

Brendan gave a nod, already knowing that from all the lessons that Norman gave him.

Back when Norman was training for the Gym Position, he taught Brendan a lot, especially when he allowed Brendan to train alongside him with practice Spars by letting him use Linoone and Blissey which gave him some battling experience as the two would listen to his son without too much issue, while the rest were too prideful.

So in a way, Brendan had an advantage compared to other new trainers when it came to experience.

* * *

That night, Brendan laid on his bed in deep thought.

Torchic. Mudkip. Treecko.

Whoever he chose would be his Starter and Go-To Pokemon.

So which one would he want?

Hoenn was completely surrounded by Water so having a Water Type is a must for getting around, but it also meant that Treecko would be the perfect Pokemon given how the grass type would have the advantage.

But Mudkip was great because as a Swampert he’s one of the strongest Water/Ground types.

Torchic would make a good challenge and he would evolve into a Fighting Type easily enough where he would easily rake in wins with the right training.

This was hard.

“Times like this I think I should’ve let Dad give me a Pokemon.” Brendan whispered as Norman did offer to get him an Eevee, which while it was a Normal Type it had several paths it could take for Evolution.

The reason he declined despite how awesome that would’ve been was because it would’ve taken time to get that Pokemon with how rare it was and it would’ve been expensive, while Norman was making good money now as a Gym Leader it would still be too expensive for the moment and his family needed that money.

Yawning as he was beginning to get drowsy, Brendan closed his eyes, easily falling asleep. He dreamt of making it to the Championship, easily defeating the Elite Four with whoever his Starter was, challenging the Champion with a cocky grin on his face while the crowd chanted his name.

* * *

“ **_And that concludes our report on the Petalburg Gym!_ **” Brendan looked amused as it showed another young trainer losing to Norman on live TV, a cup of coffee in his hand.

Normally he wouldn’t find amusement in someone losing badly, but the guy acted like a prick on live tv, so he didn’t care.

“ **_Next up is the talk of the Meteor Showers that is scheduled to happen in nine months,_ ** ” The Reporter continued while Caroline walked down the stairs in a bathrobe, with a yawn. “ **_Though it’s months away, the astronomers have expressed delight at their discovery of the predicted showers and tickets are beginning to sell at a rapid pace-._ **”

“Meteor Shower? It’s been years since I’ve seen one.” Caroline spoke up, grabbing herself a cup of coffee. “I’ll have to see about asking Norman if he wants to go.”

“It sounds awesome.” Brendan piped up, with a grin.

He always wanted to see one after reading about how beautiful they were.

“Is that right?” Caroline looked amused by that. “We’ll have to get you a ticket too then.”

Silence followed as the two were just content with enjoying the early morning, especially with the sun shining inside of the house before Caroline broke it.

“You know Professor Birch lives right next door.” She said getting Brendan’s attention. “It might be a good idea to go introduce yourself.”

On hearing that, Brendan squirmed with uncertainty.

He was fine with waiting until the man was ready with his Pokemon, but going over to meet him before then? Wasn’t it a bit early for that?

“I heard he has a daughter the same age as you,” Just like that Caroline’s smile turned downright playful while Brendan gave her a deadpanned look. “Perhaps you’ll become friends?”

“Mom, remember the last time you tried to interfere with my social life?” Brendan asked not wanting a repeat while Caroline scoffed.

“You’re being paranoid.”

“You told the other kids at school about the time I ran around the neighborhood when I was three.” Brendan pointed out while Caroline smirked as Brendan purposely left something out.

“You were the one who didn’t have clothes on at the time and wouldn’t sit still for a bath.”

“I was three!” Brendan protested rather loudly with a red face. “The other kids never let that go for years since you brought it up!”

Caroline gave a chuckle at how he was being while Brendan covered his face in embarrassment. “Brendan a lot of people did stuff like that at a young age, you’ll be fond of the memory years later.”

Brendan clearly doubted that.

“Besides it’s not as bad as the time you ended up a friends Neighbor’s Treehouse to-.” Caroline began only for Brendan to quickly stand up.

“Okay, I’ll go introduce myself to the Birch’s.” Brendan said, now looking mortified at the memory. “See you later Mom!”

Caroline smiled as he ran out before the smile fell as she knew he was itching to leave the house ever since he turned ten and she wouldn’t be able to keep him home much longer.

Now feeling sad, she walked over to one of the many unpacked boxes and pulled out a picture book, opening it to show her with a young Brendan who was on her back with his arms around her neck giving a wide smile, his hat absent as he didn’t have it at that point.

“They grow up so fast.” Caroline whispered feeling some tears beginning to show.

* * *

Brendan quickly placed a hand on his hat to keep it from flying off when the wind blew, a wince on his face. Thankfully his red face died down while he made his way next door.

He really hoped that his Mom wouldn’t bring up those old memories around anyone else, but he wouldn’t hold his breath given how she was.

After taking a second to compose himself when he reached the house where there was a sign saying it was Birch’s home, Brendan forced a smile on his face and knocked, knowing that the smile was a bit awkward.

Seconds passed before the door opened to show a young woman with dark brown hair as opposed to Caroline’s light brown, while she wore a brown spotted dress with a white apron wrapped around the front.

She tilted her head in confusion as Brendan gave an awkward wave before realization showed. “Ah you must be Norman’s kid.” She said with Brendan giving a nod. “Welcome to Hoenn, I forgot the move was yesterday. Sorry for not welcoming your family to the town, we were pretty busy that day.”

“I-It’s fine,” Brendan said, unsure of what to say to the woman he just met before he held out a hand. “Er I’m Brendan Maple.”

“Nice to meet you, I’m Loren Birch,” Loren said, accepting the handshake, finding Brendan to be pretty polite so far. “You know we have a daughter the same age as you, she’s currently in her room getting ready right now, why don’t you go introduce yourself?”

That made Brendan take a step back in surprise. “W-Wouldn’t it be better if I wait down here?”

His reaction seemed to amuse Loren. “Don’t worry she’s already dressed, she came downstairs a bit ago to have Breakfast, she’s just getting ready for work.”

A bit surprised to find that this ‘daughter’ of theirs had a job, Brendan gave a nod and slowly made his way up the stairs.

From there, it didn’t take long to make it to an open door where he saw a fifteen year old girl at her desk with long, thick brown hair, a fringe going across her forehead while a red and white bandanna kept her hair up giving her what looked to be pigtails on the front, a unique look if Brendan was being honest while she had grey-blue eyes and wore a scarlet tanktop over a black undershirt, white shorts over a pair of black leggings, yellow and black ankle boots and what looked to be a yellow/green fanny pack around her waist that she was straightening. “Okay Pokemon fully restored, items all ready and… Huh?!” She turned to see him at the door and froze.

It was at that moment that Brendan realized how creepy he must’ve looked as he was a stranger to this girl and he was just standing at the door of her very own bedroom, watching her, not saying a word.

He wouldn’t be surprised if she started to shout for her parents at this moment-wait she said Pokemon fully restored so she might set a Pokemon out on him.

“Um…” It seemed his silence was making this even more awkward as the girl slowly approached him, a hand over her fanny pack in caution where he could see a Pokeball there. “Who are you? Why are you in my room?”

Well that was a better reaction then he was expecting.

“I’m Brendan, sorry I was about to knock when you saw me,” Brendan gave a weak laugh, rubbing the back of his head. “Then I realized how creepy this must’ve looked.”

“Brendan? Oh you’re the new neighbor.” The girl realized who he was the moment he said his name and relaxed, especially since she could see how awkward he was acting, so she moved her hand away from the Pokeball. “Well I’m May, glad to meet you.”

“Right.” Brendan sighed in relief.

That could’ve gone badly.

“Mom sent you up didn’t she?” May asked, understanding what happened as Brendan gave a nod.

“I would’ve waited downstairs but she was insistent.”

“Yeah that’s Mom alright,” May smiled widely at Brendan, now being friendly. “So you moved in yesterday right? How did that go?”

Seeing the extended olive branch, Brendan took it eagerly. “Pretty well, the Pokemon Movers did the unpacking and we’re practically moved in already it’s definitely warmer than in Johto.”

That got a laugh from May. “I bet, it’s pretty cold there right?”

“Well I think anywhere else would be cold from the warm weather here.” Brendan returned.

“True, so do you have a Pokemon?” May asked, a bit surprised when Brendan shook his head. “I thought the age limit in Johto was ten.”

“It is, but my parents are… Overprotective, especially with Team Rocket announcing their comeback in Johto followed by that mess with the League and the Stock Market Crash.” Brendan said with May now wincing.

“Oh yeah I heard about that.” May said as she remembered seeing on the News about the Rockets return.

She heard that a lot of people got injured during that incident.

So she smiled. “Well we don’t have a Team Rocket here in Hoenn, I think you’ll enjoy it.”

After a second, Brendan returned the smile. “Thank you.”

“Well it’s great to meet you, when Dad said your family was moving to Littleroot, I was a bit nervous.” May revealed, surprising Brendan as she looked a little embarrassed. “I was hoping you would be nice and we could be friends.”

Brendan blinked, surprised at how easily she said that and flushed a bit.

“I mean that’s just silly isn't it?” May seemed to realize how weird that sounded as she gave a nervous laugh.

“N-No it’s fine, I’m hoping to be friends too.” Brendan reassured her because he didn’t really have too many back home due to the ones he grew up with leaving on their own journeys while he was forced to stay behind.

May smiled at that, relief on her face before her watch beeped. “Ah, I need to go, I’m supposed to be helping Dad catch wild Pokemon, let’s hang out later!”

She took off before he could agree or disagree, but Brendan didn’t seem to mind, instead he smiled.

He made a friend.

Already things were looking up for him in Hoenn.

**_To Be Continued…_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What’s this? Yet another Pokemon story? Truth be told this one in particular has been gathering dust for years since Omega Ruby came out before I completely forgot about it and focused more on Trials of a Bug Catcher and then Legends of Sinnoh, I just found it by cleaning out my back up stuff and almost deleted it before I decided what the heck?
> 
> So love it? Hate it? Should I continue this one or not? If I do it’ll be an Omega Ruby novelization with some liberties taken, making it an Emerald style route with the evil teams and combine both Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire. There might be some romance later on, though I haven’t decided if it’ll be Brendan/May, Brendan/Courtney, Brendan/Zinnia or Brendan/Liza. So far those are the four pairings I’m considering for this story if I do have one.


	2. Road to Oldale Town

There wasn’t really a whole lot to do in Littleroot Town.

That was the conclusion that Brendan came to after his meeting with May.

Don’t get him wrong it’s peaceful and the small town was beautiful.

That combined with the warm air made it an amazing place.

But he knew that there was so much more out there and not just in Hoenn.

A whole world to explore that he’s been unable to for the last five years and he was hoping to make up for every single missed moment.

But first he needed to find Prof. Birch so he could get his first Pokemon.

Loren Birch suggested that he checked the lab despite how May said that she was supposed to help him catch wild Pokemon.

So he had no idea which way to go first.

“I suppose that if I need to, I can wait at home for him to come find me.” Brendan didn’t want to do that, but he didn’t know if he could find him.

If the Professor was out of Littleroot, then that was it, he can’t exactly go after him without a Pokemon.

Brendan was snapped out of his thoughts as he realized he subconsciously walked to the edge of Littleroot where one would need to go to head for Oldale Town.

At least if he was remembering correctly.

Taking a moment to pull his Pokenav Plus to check the map feature, Brendan was surprised when he heard a shout for help out in the Route that was known as Route 101.

Not even thinking he ran out there despite how he was technically endangering his own life.

What he stumbled across surprised him as he saw a rather chubby middle-aged man wearing a white lab coat over a blue shirt and brown shorts, a scruffy beard on his face while twigs were in his brown hair, looking very panicked as he was being chased by what had to be a Poochyena, the dark type wolf-like Pokemon with grey fur, black muzzle and yellow eyes.

A bag was nearby in reach of Brendan before the man who he assumed to be Prof. Birch quickly climbed a tree, hanging onto a tree branch like a Slakoth with the Poochyena jumping up to try and bite him before the man noticed Brendan.

“You! In my bag there’s a Pokemon, use it!”

Giving a nod, Brendan ran to the bag and saw three Pokeballs.

While he was uncertain of which one to grab, he didn’t have too much time given how Birch’s yell alerted Poochyena to Brendan’s presence and was running at him.

So Brendan grabbed one randomly and let it out.

His eyes widened at seeing the Pokemon come out, landing on two feet, it was a small green reptilian like Pokemon with yellow eyes and narrow pupils. It had three fingers and three toes along with a red stomach the color stretching to its throat.

What really drew Brendan’s attention was the dark green tail that reached up to the Pokemon’s head with it nearly being two feet tall.

“A Treecko?” Brendan whispered in awe, the Pokemon looking around, giving Brendan an odd look before seeing the situation and narrowing its eyes at the Poochyena who bristled its tail out in an effort to intimidate the grass starter.

Treecko just scoffed before tilting its head to the Professor who gave a panicked nod and understood.

“Cko!” Treecko called out to Brendan who despite not understanding exactly what was being said, knew enough to formulate a guess.

They were going to fight together.

The Poocheyena had enough of waiting and ran forward, fangs gleaming in the sunlight, but the Treecko dodged, landing on the nearby tree as the hooks on its hands and feet dug into the bark, allowing the Wood Gecko to scale the tree with ease before jumping to another tree, infuriating the Poochyena.

‘ _Got to watch its teeth._ ’ Brendan thought, trying to come up with a plan.

Treecko seemed to be doing alright with moving around, so it’s time to call an attack.

“Get in close and use Pound!” Brendan ordered with a grin.

Treecko listened immediately, jumping off the tree and spinning around to slam its tail into the Bite Pokemon, using the momentum to flip over it as it was stunned.

It then proceeded to spin around, using its tail again to smack the Poochyena before jumping over it as it tried to tackle, making a mocking gesture to infuriate the wild Pokemon into trying again where Treecko jumped up, allowing for the Poochyena to slam face first into the tree while he scaled it before jumping back down to use gravity to his advantage for one final Pound.

The Poochyena collapsed in pain before it got up and fled, giving the Treecko a look of anger.

Treecko just huffed in amusement, happy to get some action in before keeping in place on the tree with one foot, using the other to cross its legs while Treecko leaned back into the tree, crossing its arms as if the wood gecko was leaning against a wall instead of midway in the tree.

Prof. Birch gave a sigh of relief before a cracking sound could be heard and his eyes widened right when the branch he was on decided it had enough and broke, forcing the man to fall on his back.

Seeing that, Treecko’s shoulders shook as it tried to refrain from laughing while Brendan ran over to help the man up.

“Are you alright?” Brendan asked, his voice making Treecko eye him curiously before giving a nod.

“Yes I’m fine, if you weren’t nearby, who knows what could’ve happened.” Prof. Birch said before watching as Treecko jumped off the side of the tree and landed on Brendan’s back.

That action surprised Brendan before Treecko began to climb up him, going in a circle on his stomach to glance up at Brendan before climbing up to his shoulder.

It then stood up and slapped Brendan’s face with its tail.

“Ow-what the heck?!” Brendan asked with Treecko giving an amused grin despite the boy’s glare.

“Treecko be nice.” Prof. Birch told the grass starter, showing that this type of behavior seemed to be normal before he took a closer look at Brendan who was rubbing his red cheek. “Hang on a minute, you’re Norman’s kid aren’t you?”

“Guilty as charged.” Brendan answered, smiling at the Professor. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“That we can agree on, come on let’s continue the talk at my lab.” Prof. Birch offered, grabbing his bag, leaving for Brendan to try and return Treecko, only for the Pokemon to dodge the return beam and smacked Brendan once more on the other cheek, now making the red mark match the first.

“Will you cut that out?!” Brendan demanded with an annoyed glare only for Treecko to stick out its tongue while pulling down on one eye in response.

* * *

“So Brendan,” Prof. Birch began the moment they were in his lab, papers and books scattered all over the place, along with multiple empty boxes that used to have take out food. “I’ve heard so much about you from your father.”

Brendan gave an embarrassed chuckle, idly wondering what Birch could’ve heard.

Unlike Caroline, Norman wasn’t one to really bring up embarrassing stories all that much.

But it could happen given how close Birch and Norman were as friends.

“He said you don’t have your own Pokemon yet, though I wouldn’t have believed that given how you and Treecko there interacted.”

“Dad always let me join in on his training sessions, usually with Linoone and Blissey,” Brendan revealed with a shrug. “Besides Treecko did most of the work, I only gave him one order.”

“Even so, the timing of that order made the difference, you didn’t call out attacks randomly like some beginning trainers do and you didn’t make the commands drawn out or complicated,” Prof. Birch pointed out to him. “They were clear, to the point and it showed you trusted Treecko to follow them without hesitation.”

Even if Brendan denied it, it told volumes of how much battling experience he really had.

It would give him quite the edge against countless trainers out there.

“Now I was going to let you choose your first Pokemon, but I think Treecko chose you to be his trainer.”

That surprised Brendan who thought about how he was smacked twice by this Pokemon. “Are you sure?” He asked, obviously disagreeing.

Treecko frowned before spinning around to smack Brendan again, stopping right before his tail made contact, the action making the teen jump only to narrow his eyes at the wood gecko who gave an amused chuckle.

“He’s quite the prankster, but he’s also distant,” Prof. Birch revealed with a wry grin. “If he didn’t choose you to be his trainer, he wouldn’t be on your shoulder.”

Treecko looked away as if denying that.

‘ _I mean I wouldn’t mind if he would stop smacking me._ ’ Brendan thought, glancing at Treecko who wouldn’t meet his gaze.

Still he was having trouble deciding, so if Treecko chose him, who was he to say no?

Thinking it over a bit more, Brendan smiled. “I’d be happy to have Treecko as my partner.”

“Wonderful, you two will make quite the team once you gain enough experience together.” Prof. Birch stated, giving a laugh at how easily embarrassed Brendan seemed to get. “With that out of the way, are you going to give him a nickname?”

Brendan paused, never thinking about that.

He’s read that some trainers choose to nickname their Pokemon, basically as a way to avoid confusion during battles in case they fight other Pokemon from their species.

Some do it randomly, while others have a system. Some are named after colors.

Others named after food, though Brendan found that to be a little disturbing.

After thinking it over a bit, Brendan came up with his own naming system.

“Gex.” He said naming Treecko after a video game character.

Video Games were something he enjoyed, so he might have that be the system for whatever he captured.

Treecko thought about it for a moment before shrugging.

He didn’t mind the name and it sounded easy enough to remember.

Prof. Birch gave a nod, seeing that it was taken care of. “Congratulations, you’re officially a Pokemon Trainer,” He smirked at seeing that Brendan was barely containing his excitement. “About time right?”

He knew the reasons why Brendan wasn’t able to be one earlier despite being the right age and he couldn’t help but feel bad for him, knowing how exciting it was to be traveling.

So he was happy to be the one to give Brendan his first Pokemon.

Turning from Brendan, Prof. Birch glanced at his desk where one could see a red device poking out from beneath the papers and an idea came to him.

Perhaps there was something else he could do, but first he needed to get the preparations done.

“My girl, May happens to be out surveying Pokemon for me, by the time you catch up with her she’ll be out on Route 103, why don’t you head out that way yourself?”

Eyes widening, Brendan gave a grin, liking the idea. “Of course.” He agreed quite easily, wanting to see more of Hoenn.

His eager response elicited a laugh from Prof. Birch. “Great, May will be happy as well, she could help show you the ropes on being a trainer.”

Seeing Brendan leaving the lab after that, Prof. Birch turned and walked towards his desk, pulling the red device out.

He’s been studying the Pokedex extensively after one of his colleagues, Professor Oak, sent over two upgraded Pokedex’s, wanting to get the Hoenn Region’s Pokemon added to it.

Birch already gave one to his daughter given how she was learning how to be a Professor from him and she was doing a phenomenal job with it.

Including how it was showing her information that many trainers would do anything to get.

Normally Birch wouldn’t think about giving the second one to a trainer he just met, but Norman has told him enough about Brendan that made the Professor certain that doing this would be the right choice.

* * *

Brendan looked amazed as he walked back onto Route 101, Gex now sitting on his white hat.

Taking a deep breath, Brendan continued on, trying not to show how excited he was to actually be traveling, even though it was going to be a short distance compared to an actual journey.

It was still a new experience that he would enjoy immensely.

Gex then jumped off of Brendan’s head, landing on a nearby tree branch where he began to jump from branch to branch, looking back to ensure he didn’t lose his trainer in his rush.

Brendan just grinned, seeing that Gex was just as excited.

He must’ve been cooped up at the lab.

That was something that Brendan can relate with.

Hearing the sound of fighting ahead as he lost sight of Gex, Brendan ran on ahead to see a Zigzagoon running away as Gex crossed his arms with a smug expression.

“Gex, we’re supposed to battle together.” Brendan reminded his Starter.

Don’t get him wrong, he’s happy to see that Gex can handle himself, but they were supposed to be a team.

Gex just raised a brow before turning as another Poochyena walked out of the grass.

Immediately, Gex ran forward, using Pound before grabbing the stunned Dark Type, glowing green to show that he knew Absorb.

The Poochyena quickly fled after that.

“What did I just say?!” Brendan groaned, seeing Gex give him an amused look. “Wait, you’re doing that on purpose aren’t you?”

Gex just gave a nod as he wanted to have a little fun there.

Seeing his trainer roll his eyes, Gex walked forward, stepping on a small stick.

Raising a brow, Gex idly picked it up and placed the stick in his mouth much like how some people use toothpicks.

A bit bemused by that, Brendan shook his head to get back on topic. “Look, you’re strong and I have experience but we’re both new to being partners,” He walked over and knelt down to look at Gex. “I’m not saying to not do your own thing in a battle, if it helps us win then that’s great, but at least work with me like you did against that first Poochyena.”

He finished that up by holding out a hand, wanting to shake on it.

Biting down on his new twig, Gex tilted his head before giving a nod and accepting the handshake, making Brendan smile.

Then he jumped up and smacked his face with his tail, ruining the moment.

* * *

Two hours later and he was in Oldale Town, Brendan giving a low whistle at seeing the small town.

While bigger than Littleroot by a mile, it had nothing on Goldenrod City, that’s for sure.

Still it was a pretty cool place.

Gex tilted his head as he could see so many buildings that were different from Littleroot.

He had some scrapes on him given how they battled a few more wild Pokemon, his Absorb helping him fight longer than most Pokemon at his current strength.

But it had its limits and he was starting to feel it.

Noticing that, Brendan looked around before seeing a building with a red roof and smiled.

At least the Pokemon Center looked similar to the ones in Johto.

So he walked over to go in, seeing the familiar pink haired Nurse Joy at the counter where he had to shake his head.

He never understood how there were so many identical Nurse Joy’s, seriously for one to be in every city in every region?

Just how big was that damn family?

It was just like how about every police force in each city was led by an Officer Jenny.

But he ignored that and walked forward, earning a smile from Nurse Joy. “Welcome, are you here to heal up your Pokemon?” Nurse Joy asked with Brendan giving a nod.

“Yes please.” He said, reaching up to grab Gex who gave him a bewildered look. “Don’t worry it won’t take long.”

Gex didn’t look too sure as he noticed a Chancey walking towards them, the signature Pokemon for any Nurse Joy speaking to him before the grass starter gave a slow nod.

“It should take about five minutes.” Nurse Joy promised with Brendan giving a nod.

That wasn’t too long of a wait.

“Nurse Joy!” A voice made Brendan turn to see a fourteen year old girl running up to the Nurse with a grin, holding a Pokeball triumphantly.

Seeing that she wasn’t stopping, Brendan quickly stepped back to get out of the way, seeing that this girl had dark blue hair pulled into pigtails, held together by a white ribbon and gray eyes wearing something that wouldn’t look out of place in a martial arts movie.

She had on a puffy sleeved blue and white shirt with two magenta stars on it and matching pants with a planet symbol on the thigh.

“Hello Liza.” Nurse Joy said with a small smile. “I take it that you caught the Ralts you were looking for before your brother?”

The newly introduced Liza gave a nod, looking extremely proud. “Of course, my little bro still hasn’t found one yet.” She bragged, handing the Pokeball over to the Nurse.

“Ralts?” Brendan muttered, not knowing what Pokemon that was.

While he has looked into what Pokemon were in Hoenn, he still had a lot to learn.

“Hm?” Liza turned towards him as Brendan winced.

He really needed to stop intruding on private conversations.

“Wow, I thought that hat was your hair for a second.” Liza said looking at the white hat with Brendan nearly giving a snort.

It wasn’t the first time he’s heard that, probably won’t be the last.

“Gift from Mom, I’m Brendan nice to meet you.” He held out his hand with the girl accepting the handshake.

So far he was doing okay with meeting nice people after moving here.

“Oh you just moved here?” Liza asked in a curious tone, the question catching Brendan by complete surprise because he never said anything about that.

How did she know?!

“You’re broadcasting your thoughts,” Liza said with a grin at his confused face. “You should work on that before you run into anymore Psychics.”

Broadcast his-Psychics were real?!

He always thought it was a tall tale that people told to mess with kids.

It seemed that he was still broadcasting his thoughts given the amused look that Liza seemed to be giving him.

“Liza you need to stop messing with people.” A new voice cut in, making Brendan turn towards it to see a fourteen year old boy that looked identical to Liza in every way, down to the clothes.

The key differences were that this boy had no pigtails and the stars on the front of his shirt were green.

Twins perhaps?

“Yes we are.” Liza answered him, making Brendan jump as he kept forgetting that fact before she turned to her twin. “So you finally caught up baby bro?”

“Stop calling me that, we’re twins.” The boy snapped, annoyed at how she would always do this.

Even if he knew she was just teasing, it was a sore subject.

“But I was born first.” Liza said in a sing-song tone.

Brendan tilted his head to the side.

Was this how siblings interact? He was an only child so he didn’t know.

The boy sighed. “She was right though, you are broadcasting your thoughts, most of the time we can block it out but your thoughts are pretty loud.” He glanced at Brendan seeing him looking embarrassed. “Names Tate.”

“I’m-.”

“Brendan.” Tate finished with a small grin.

“... Did I broadcast that too?”

“No, I heard you say that to Liza.”

Nurse Joy looked amused by seeing this conversation while Tate handed over his Ralts.

“It’s nice to meet you,” Tate began only for Liza to take over.

“We’re from Mossdeep City.”

“But we came to Oldale Town.”

“To catch a Ralts.”

The way they kept finishing each other’s sentences was a bit much for Brendan as he kept looking back and forth between them like he was watching a tennis match.

“Ooh tennis sounds fun.” Liza said, sensing that thought.

Okay this was getting a bit much.

“Sorry, we’re not trying to make you uncomfortable.” Tate apologized to Brendan. “Having a dark type can help keep your thoughts from being broadcasted.”

Brendan gave a nod. “Thank you.”

He wasn’t trying to be rude because so far Tate and Liza seem friendly, it’s just he didn’t want to have every thought read so knowing how to stop his mind from doing this would be good.

“Don’t worry you’re not rude, at least you’re not imagining-on second thought never mind.” Liza began only to stop in embarrassment.

Brendan gave her a confused look.

Tate gave a cough, showing a red face.

One bad thing about being psychics was the fact that sometimes you hear thoughts that should remain private, especially as you get older.

And with them being in their teen years, both twins have seen some imaginations directed at them that made them uncomfortable.

“If someone isn’t imagining it, don’t bring it up, that’ll just make them think about it.” Tate admonished Liza who stuck her tongue out at him in an immature fashion.

After thinking it over for a second, Brendan figured he probably didn’t want to know.

“You really don’t.” Tate sighed, hanging his head.

“So Brendan, did you just become a trainer?” Liza asked curiously, wanting to change the conversation.

“Yes, just got my first Pokemon a few hours ago.”

Maybe he can battle one of them with Gex after he’s healed up?

It would be a good test for their first true battle together.

“We would love to battle but-.” Tate began with Liza shaking her head.

“The only Pokemon we have that isn’t too strong for you.”

“Is Ralts.” Tate continued, the two finishing each other’s sentences once more. “And the only move they know-.”

“Is Growl.”

So not really a fair fight and he only has one Pokemon.

“But maybe we can battle after some training?” Liza suggested, snapping her fingers with a grin. “We’ll be in Petalburg in a week and that’ll give us enough time to train them up enough to fight back.”

“And it’ll give you enough time to get a second Pokemon.” Tate confirmed showing that if they were to battle, it would be a double battle.

“And it should give you time to get some experience working with your Pokemon before challenging us.” Liza grinned with anticipation. “Even if Ralts is new, we have plenty of experience fighting together.”

“Hey I have plenty of battling experience, just not with Gex.” Brendan crossed his arms a bit insulted.

“Speaking of which, your Pokemon is healed Brendan.” Nurse Joy spoke as Chansey came out with Gex who quickly ran towards Brendan and climbed up to sit on his shoulder, still having the stick in his mouth.

“Ooh, it’s a Treecko?” Liza asked in excitement.

She loved seeing other Pokemon even if she was a type specialist like her brother.

Gex just raised a brow, wondering who these two were while Brendan was glad Treecko didn’t just smack him again.

He gained a deadpanned face when Liza erupted in a fit of giggles showing that she must’ve heard that while Tate looked amused, but was far more polite about it.

He really needed to work on this.

“You’re a lot of fun to tease, Brendan.” Liza concluded, earning him a surprised look while Tate’s amused face turned into pity, knowing how Liza was before he saw the time.

“Liza we need to get going.” Tate reminded her. “Steven wanted to meet up with us.”

Just like that Liza perked right up.

“Ooh you’re right, we shouldn’t keep him waiting.” Liza said while Brendan tilted his head.

Steven? A normal enough name, was he family? Friend?

“Family friend,” Tate answered easily enough before smirking. “Though Liza wants to be his girlfriend.”

“Tate!” Liza exclaimed, going red in embarrassment while Tate ran off with a laugh at making her flustered. “Get back here!”

“... They do realize they left their Ralts with you right?” Brendan asked Nurse Joy who gave a small chuckle.

“They know, they have Pokemon that can teleport so it’s not a big deal for them to leave.” Nurse Joy said with Brendan giving a nod.

That was definitely interesting.

**_To Be Continued…_ **

Party Data

1st Pokemon

Starter

 **_Name:_ ** Gex

 **_Species:_ ** Treecko

 **_Type:_ ** Grass

 **_Gender:_ ** Male

 **_Nature:_ ** Mild (Up Sp. Attack/Down Defense)

 **_Characteristic_ **: Mischievous (Up Sp. Attack.)

 ** _Lv._** 6

 **_Obtained at Lv._ ** 5

 **_Ability:_ ** Overgrow

 **_Moves:_ ** Pound, Leer and Absorb

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, second chapter and so far we have Brendan who has Treecko and yes I named him Gex, I loved that game series and hope it gets a remaster like Spyro and Crash did.
> 
> But more than that I hope you enjoyed Gex’s mischievous personality which I made more abundant in this fanfic along with referencing Ash’s Treecko with the wood gecko biting down on a stick, it’s hard for me to imagine a Treecko without one.
> 
> Then we have Tate and Liza making a very early appearance, I made them fourteen because they’re Gym Leaders and given the age system in Pokemon, I felt it would be more believable if they were a bit older and I used the Anime as a basis for their characters.
> 
> I figured with them being Psychic trainers it would be believable for them to be in Oldale to get themselves a Ralts, especially since this is in Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire, so they can get a Gardevoir and a Gallade.
> 
> It was fun typing them because of their Psychic abilities which made the interactions amazing. Brendan will find out about them being Gym Leaders much later, though whether it’s before the actual Gym Battle is up for debate.
> 
> I plan to have the Gym Leaders be out and about a bit more and I want to take this slowly compared to my other two Pokemon stories.
> 
> Trial of a Bug Catcher is fast paced and the MC has four badges within 21 chapters while the Legends of Sinnoh MC is getting ready for his first gym battle after having six chapters. Don’t know how slow I’ll take this but given how I have two chapters done before the first battle with May, I think I’m doing good on that front.


	3. The First Battle

“Absorb!” Brendan grinned as Gex took down a Zigzagoon with ease, the two have been battling every few minutes with the wild Pokemon that lived in Route 103 to the north of Oldale Town.

It’s only been an hour since he left, looking for where May could be, wondering if there was a chance he might’ve passed her and she could be back in Littleroot by now.

Prof. Birch did say she was out here but that was awhile ago.

“Cko.” Gex crossed his arms rather smugly at the win.

The Pokemon here were way too easy, even the Wingulls provided no challenge due to a lack of them using flying type moves.

And he could feel himself get stronger with each victory along with the move absorb keeping his energy up to snuff.

“Don’t get cocky.” Brendan said to Gex, making his Starter give him a stink eyed look.

For a second, Brendan thought Gex would smack him again, but Gex just smirked and turned away.

… Somehow that made him a bit more uneasy.

Shaking his head, Brendan continued onward, seeing his Pokemon back in the treetops and smiled.

At least they were getting used to battling together, though sometimes Gex went off on his own to battle.

Brendan didn’t mind it and he thinks that’s probably why Gex gives him a chance.

Either that or he’s just humoring him to mess with him in the future, he can never tell with him.

Eventually however they finally found May who was writing in a notebook, standing in front of a pond, but he could see a Pokemon next to her foot.

It was a small chick-like Pokemon with very stubby yellow wings, covered in orange feathers that blended with the yellow on the top of its head like a flame, it was currently sitting with its four toed legs easily being seen.

It was clearly a Torchic, the fire starter.

“Let’s see, so these Pokemon can be found on Route 103 only, but if you fish in this pond you can find Pokemon like Magikarp and Feebas-.” She stopped however when Torchic stood up abruptly, fluffing up her feathers as if trying to make herself look bigger.

The fire type glared in Brendan’s attention, having May look his way, a surprised expression crossing her face but it disappeared into a friendly smile.

“Brendan I didn’t expect to see you out here.” She greeted and that was enough for Torchic to relax, her feathers relaxing. “What are you doing here?”

Rubbing the back of his neck, Brendan gave a sheepish grin. “Your Dad sent me,” He said surprising her. “He wants you to show me the ropes on being a trainer.”

Not that he didn’t know, he is Norman’s son after all, but he didn’t want to be rude.

“Show you the ropes?” May asked only for Gex to make his reappearance, jumping out of a tree, landing on Brendan’s hat.

The sudden weight nearly sent Brendan falling face first as he tried to steady himself.

And from Gex’s snickering, he knew that the wood gecko did that on purpose.

“Oh I see now,” May said, trying to stifle a giggle at what just happened. “So Dad gave you a Pokemon?”

Managing to prevent himself from falling over, Brendan gave a nod, trying not to frown in annoyance at Gex for nearly making him look like an idiot.

Brendan had the nagging suspicion that Gex was giving him an amused grin.

“Y-Yeah, didn’t really choose considering the Poochyena we had to deal with.” Brendan muttered.

May sighed before she pinched her nose. “Seriously Dad?” She muttered, now understanding what might’ve happened. “I told you a hundred times, keep a Pokemon out at all times.”

You would think the absentminded Professor would learn that lesson by now given the amount of times he had to be saved from a wild Pokemon.

It was why she usually helped him out.

“Well then how about we have a battle to show you the ropes?” May proposed, a grin on her face.

She didn’t even need to finish as Brendan’s face lit up in excitement.

Finally, his first ever trainer battle.

“You’re on.” Brendan said, getting into a stance before Gex jumped off his head, taking a moment to slap his face in the process. “Seriously?!”

Gex snickered, getting ready as Torchic ran out to meet him, the two exchanging competitive glares.

May looked vaguely amused by what happened as she pulled out a red device, Brendan blinking in confusion on what it could be. “Don’t think just because you saved Dad I’ll go easy on you.”

Brendan said nothing, but he gave a nod to show he understood.

Truth be told, he appreciated that because he would be very insulted if she did go easy on him.

They both tensed, getting ready but neither calling out the first move as both Gex and Torchic were getting antsy.

Eventually, Gex broke first and charged forward, eager to get this battle going.

“Scratch.” May ordered in a short, to the point tone with Torchic giving a short nod, waiting until Treecko was close.

“Pound the ground.” Brendan’s order surprised May only for Gex to do so, the force of the attack giving the wood gecko momentum to jump over Torchic who was in the motion to deliver a scratch where he was supposed to be.

The moment he landed, Gex spun around, smacking Torchic with his tail, sending her forward.

Gex didn’t even stay on the ground, instead jumping to a nearby tree where he moved from tree to tree to confuse Torchic who nearly spat out embers only for May to shake her head.

While at first Brendan was confused, he understood immediately.

It would be easier if Torchic could use ember, but they were surrounded by trees and neither of them wanted to accidentally start a fire.

So it wasn’t holding back, just being mindful of their surroundings.

Torchic looked irked but understood, instead crouching as her talons dug into the ground, eyes watching Gex who was still moving rather quickly, only to disappear as he went behind a tree.

By breaking eye contact with him, Gex climbed the back of the tree and silently moved from branch to branch now that Torchic couldn’t see where he was.

But May noticed him as Gex leapt, getting ready to use Pound.

“Torchic, jump and spin around with Scratch.”

Listening with no hesitation, Torchic jumped right as the tail smacked where she would’ve been, gravity making it hit the ground rather hard before the Chick Pokemon raked her talons across Gex, making him wince as light scratches appeared on his torso.

She then delivered an ember while Gex was close with no time to dodge, the tiny fireballs doing some major damage as Gex was knocked back, now covered in scorch marks.

Thankfully he wasn’t burnt, but Gex wouldn’t be able to take too many of those.

Narrowing his eyes, Gex got ready while Torchic gave him a smug look of her own.

“Don’t let her get to you Gex.” Brendan told his starter who bit on the stick in his mouth to calm himself down.

“Have to say you’re doing pretty well for your first battle.” May commented, a bit surprised by how Brendan was doing things.

“Thanks but it's hardly my first battle, just with Gex.” Brendan revealed, surprising May. “My Dad’s a Gym Leader, remember?”

Hearing that, May chuckled. “I suppose that makes sense.”

Just like how her strength in a battle comes from researching Pokemon alongside her Dad, it stands to reason that Brendan’s comes from experiencing battles in his own way.

At least it made this one exciting despite the fact they were limited at the moment.

But it was time to finish this.

If she could get close and use ember once more before he could dodge, Torchic would win.

But she had a feeling that Brendan knew that so he would try to keep Treecko away.

However Gex could only fight up close so eventually he would need to risk it.

“Scratch, don’t let up.” May ordered, using that to disguise her true plan.

Brendan however had a different tactic, his mind flashing to when Gex first climbed up his body after their first meeting.

“Gex, get on her back.”

Gex smirked, rushing forward, sliding to the side as the Torchic went to scratch him again, only this time he reached out and grabbed her side with his left hand.

Once the hand was in contact he kept his grip, using the hooks on his hand so when Torchic tried to shake him off, he stayed there.

Eventually he was able to get his feet on her back, latching on so he could stand and that was when he used his tail to repeatedly use Pound, causing damage that was adding up as Torchic tried to shake him off, unable to use Ember or Scratch due to him being in her blindspot.

Torchic attempted to slam herself in a tree to shake him off, but Gex jumped off when she did that, the Chick Pokemon hurting herself before he spun around midair, delivering one final Pound to the face, sending Torchic down and out.

Gex landed on his feet with a smirk at winning despite the type advantage and casually placed a hand on his hip.

“Wow that’s great,” May took the loss pretty well as she smiled. “You’re pretty good.”

“Thanks but Gex did the work there.” Brendan shook his head, but he appreciated the compliment, watching as May approached Torchic, pulling out a Revive.

Raising it over the fire starter, May gently opened her beak and poured the liquid in.

It took a few seconds, but Torchic slowly woke up a bit groggy.

Gex just snickered at that, earning a glare from the fire starter only to chirp in pain when May sprayed her with a potion to take care of her injuries.

“You want me to heal your Treecko too?” May offered, but Brendan shook his head.

“It’s fine, we can head back to Oldale to use the Pokemon Center.” Brendan didn’t want May to waste her items on them. “Besides, on the way back Gex can use Absorb to heal up a bit against wild Pokemon.”

Gex gave a nod, agreeing with those words.

“I do appreciate the offer though.”

May shrugged, picking Torchic up, hugging the fire type as she stood up. “It’s no problem.” She said, enjoying the heat that her starter was giving out from the hug. “But still I think I can understand why my Dad had an eye on you after he heard you were moving here.”

“He did?” Brendan asked, not expecting that.

Why would he?

“I mean look at you, you just got Treecko-or Gex as you call him and you both have a pretty close bond.” May pointed out with Gex jumping up on Brendan’s shoulder as if to prove that point. “I have a feeling that you could befriend any Pokemon easily.”

Brendan looked visibly embarrassed, not so sure about that claim.

May then glanced up to see the position of the sun and winced. “But we should head back, the sun should set by the time we get back to Littleroot.”

So she put Torchic down and began to pack her supplies before grinning his way.

“You want to walk back together?” May offered. “I’m very curious about how different the Johto Region is.”

“Sure thing,” Brendan agreed pretty easily. “You mind telling me more about the Hoenn Region in return?”

“Of course.”

As they left, neither of the two rookies were aware of how their battle had an audience.

And the observer walked out from beyond the trees with a curious look.

It was a pretty thin young woman with chin length black hair, the fringe stopping right above her red eyes, a ragged white cloak with black shoulder pads covering her black top, a pair of red crescent lunar symbols being seen on her shirt, gray shorts and open grey toed boots.

“Huh, never expected to see an exciting battle between rookies.” The girl mused in amusement.

Most rookies only used simple tactics such as Scratch, Peck or Tackle.

Yet those two used those and more along with the unique strategies that both played.

It made her wonder how strong they would be once they gained enough experience in being trainers and a feral grin appeared with her wanting to throw down with someone.

But that was enough on that, she was here for a reason.

So the girl turned towards the pond that May was studying with a smirk.

If she was right and she was fairly certain she was, at the very bottom of this pond was a Mega Stone.

She’ll have to hurry before she begins her undercover job, can’t be late on her first day after all.

Aster won’t let her hear the end of it if she was late.

* * *

Just as May said, the sun was beginning to set by the time the two made it back to Littleroot, both of them returning their Pokemon once they entered the town.

“Finally.” Brendan muttered, his legs sore from all of the walking.

How do trainers do this every day?!

May giggled at how he was acting, remembering how she used to be the same when she began walking everywhere.

She had time to get used to it before getting her first Pokemon.

“If you think that’s bad, just wait until tomorrow.” May said knowing that by the time tomorrow comes, his legs would feel worse.

Brendan groaned at the thought, not looking forward to it, but he put that in the back of his mind.

“Still thank you, I really enjoyed the battle.” Brendan was happy that he had his first official battle as a trainer today.

“Same here, though I would’ve won if we weren’t surrounded by trees.” May said, a bit of a competitive grin on her face.

Brendan actually agreed with that.

The only reason he won was because Torchic couldn’t use ember without causing environmental damage, but he won’t always have that advantage.

“Then I guess we’ll have a rematch in a more controlled location to keep it even?” Brendan asked, earning a nod from May.

“Definitely.”

They sealed the deal with a handshake, both of them promising to win the next battle.

And Brendan was happy about that because he knew that having a rival would do wonders in helping him get strong.

Plus he couldn’t ask for a better rival then May from what he knew so far.

He will win the next battle however.

“Right, I need to go,” May ended the handshake, giving Brendan a wave. “See you tomorrow.”

Returning the wave, Brendan glanced up at the sky while May left, the boy just happy about how the last two days went.

So far he’s enjoying his time in the Hoenn Region.

Rubbing the back of his neck, Brendan yawned and headed home himself.

* * *

Unlike the other night, dinner wasn’t as lively given how Norman didn’t visit this time.

But it was still good, especially with Brendan introducing Gex to his Mom and telling her about how the day went.

He did leave out how Tate and Liza were psychic twins, not sure how to explain that one, but he did tell her about the battle promise he made with them and how his first battle with May went.

“Somehow I’m not surprised at how you got your Treecko.” Caroline shook her head in exasperation. “Norman always told me how forgetful Birch could be.”

You would think the man would learn by now, but she supposed it was who he was.

Brendan just gave a chuckle, watching how Gex kept looking around the house in a curious manner.

At least he wasn’t causing any mischief at the moment.

While he did that, Caroline just watched Brendan with a sad smile. “I suppose when you head out to Petalburg for that battle you’ll be starting your journey?” She asked, the question catching Brendan by surprise.

In all honesty, he didn’t even think about that.

His plan was to do the battle, then head back home to help Mom settle in the house a bit more.

There was still a ton to unpack before he could even think about going on a journey.

“You should get your bag ready if that’s the case, a journey is not something you want to go on without being prepared.” Caroline continued before Brendan could share his thoughts.

“But we just got to Hoenn, I should at least help out around here.” Brendan denied, not seeing how Gex gave him a dirty look.

The wood gecko wanted to see the world damnit.

“That’s sweet of you,” Caroline said, giving him a grateful smile. “But I want you to enjoy your time in Hoenn, your father and I kept you from your journey for far too long.”

“Mom.” Brendan’s shoulders sagged at hearing that.

A mixture of excitement and concern coursed through him.

“Oh but that’s for tomorrow, right now let’s just enjoy tonight.” Caroline changed the conversation, closing her eyes so he wouldn’t see the sadness at the idea of him leaving.

But she needed to let him go out and find his own path.

Just like everyone else.

Dinner seemed a bit somber after that despite how Brendan tried to keep his mother’s spirits up.

* * *

Brendan couldn’t sleep.

He just laid on his bed, staring at the ceiling, much like the other night.

Of course this time it wasn’t the thought of which starter he would choose, pretty obvious considering how Gex was actually curled up on his stomach.

Seeing him like that actually made Gex look very innocent despite the fact that Brendan knew that was the furthest thing from the truth, but he couldn’t help but smile at him.

The smile fell however as the reason he couldn’t sleep returned to his mind.

His Mom was having him start his journey tomorrow, already helping him pack his bag which was near the door for him to grab in the morning.

Truth be told, Brendan didn’t think it would start this soon, he figured he would at least wait a few more days or weeks before going on one.

Instead it was starting on his third day in Hoenn.

Shifting a bit, Brendan watched how Gex fidgeted before relaxing with him not wanting to wake his starter up.

‘ _ Come on, I need to sleep otherwise I’ll be too tired to even think straight tomorrow. _ ’ Brendan chided himself, closing his eyes.

Perhaps he should start counting Mareep?

* * *

“Cko!” Brendan was rudely awakened by Gex slapping him, making him yelp as he jumped up, falling out of the bed with a thud, pulling the covers with him in the process.

Seeing that, Gex chuckled with mirth while Brendan scrambled, trying to kick the covers off of him before glaring at him.

“Okay seriously, stop doing that!”

Gex rolled his eyes but gave a nod, relenting a little.

As fun as it was, slapping him was getting old.

He’ll have to think of something new.

Rubbing his sore cheek, Brendan yawned and checked the time to see that it was nine in the morning.

“Brendan are you up?” Caroline called out. “May is here.”

“Wait, she is?” Brendan muttered before his eyes widened in a panic.

His Mom wouldn’t… Would she?

What was he saying, of course she would.

So he panicked and grabbed his clothes, trying to change as quickly as he could before grabbing his bag and hat.

Running down the steps two at a time, Brendan heard laughter and groaned.

Great, which embarrassing story did his Mom share this time?

Debating on heading back up to sneak out the window, Brendan decided not to, especially when Gex landed on his head, showing that he wanted to get going.

So with a sigh, Brendan finished walking down the stairs and entered the kitchen where he saw Caroline and May talking.

“Ah Brendan, how did you sleep?” Caroline asked with a playful smile, knowing what he was thinking.

And it didn’t help due to how May was trying not to laugh.

“... Good, what did you do?”

“Just telling May here about that time at the restaurant in Goldenrod, when you were seven.” Caroline said, seeing him look confused before he thought about it, trying to think of what she was talking about, so she supplied another hint. “Where you ran into a mirror.”

The confusion then turned into realization before he flushed in embarrassment.

Gex began to chuckle at hearing that, wanting to know more of the story.

Pulling his white hat over his eyes to hide his embarrassment, Brendan tried to change the conversation, wishing that he wasn’t so impulsive as a kid to give his Mom so much dirt.

While he did grow out of being impulsive, his Mom already had a ton of stories.

“So what brings you here so early?” Brendan asked May, obviously trying not to rise up to the bait his Mom planted.

Stifling some more laughter, May answered. “Dad sent me, he wants to talk to you.” She said, the answer surprising the teen boy.

He does?

Brendan had no clue what to expect, but he wasn’t going to let this chance go to waste

“Alright, let’s get going.” Brendan said, rushing towards the door. “I’ll be right back Mom.”

It was obvious that he was trying to leave before his Mom could let loose another embarrassing story of his childhood.

Seeing that, May got up to follow. “Thank you for your hospitality Mrs. Maple.”

“It’s no trouble May, come back anytime.” Caroline told her, happy to see that her son made a friend, watching as they left before she took a sip of her coffee.

With them gone, she finally let her smile drop with the house feeling empty despite how Brendan hasn’t truly left yet.

**_To Be Continued…_ **

**_Party Data_ **

1st Pokemon

Starter

**_Name:_ ** Gex

**_Species:_ ** Treecko

**_Type:_ ** Grass

**_Gender:_ ** Male

**_Nature:_ ** Mild (Up Sp. Attack/Down Defense)

**_Characteristic_ ** : Mischievous (Up Sp. Attack.)

**_Lv._ ** 7

**_Obtained at Lv._ ** 5

**_Ability:_ ** Overgrow

**_Moves:_ ** Pound, Leer and Absorb

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heh, the third chapter is finally done and we had the first battle with May. Hopefully I made the battle as interesting as I could with it being between two starter Pokemon who were rather limited in their moveset.
> 
> So I used the information in the Pokedex to make it more interesting, such as Treecko’s being able to scale trees and walls easily thanks to the hooks in their hands and feet.
> 
> It was a ton of fun, so expect more battles to use the information in the Pokedex like that and then we had a surprise cameo from Zinnia who hasn’t met Brendan or May.
> 
> So far things are going great despite the slower pace compared to the other Pokemon stories, but I think that’s this one's greatest strength right there.
> 
> And adding more characteristics to Caroline made this fun along with Gex showing his mischievous side a bit more.


End file.
